When Jorge Martín dreams of leaving his mark in MotoGP

The fifth Spanish rider to be titled in the premier category of motorcycle Grands Prix, Jorge Martín had the opportunity to describe everything this accomplishment represents for him, after young years often disrupted by the lack of financial and material resources.

“It’s a privilege to have won the world championship and it’s something that will stay with me for the rest of my life,” declared the pilot a week after its title, on Spanish public television.

“It was my dream since I was little. I always dreamed of being MotoGP champion. I won the Moto3 title, but I was missing this one. It was a lot of work and sacrifices , but to finally be able to put my name on the Champions Tower, with the other names on it, it’s huge and it makes me very happy.”

But now that he is at the top of MotoGP, and although he needed time to gradually assimilate his victory and his new status in the hours and days that followed, the young man does not intend to put aside his ambition : he wants to be part of the history of his sport and rub shoulders with the greatest champions in the statistics.

I want to be a legend in MotoGP. I want to be remembered as an incredible driver, like Lorenzo, Pedrosa, Valentino, Márquez.

To win this title, for him, “it’s bringing an incredible career full circle”. He is well aware of having achieved what was his ultimate goal, yet an insatiable hunger was immediately felt, with a deep desire to do even more.

“I could go home tomorrow and stop the motorcycle, and I would be the happiest man in the world,” he admitted after the race that marked his coronation last month. “[Mais] I am very motivated for my future, I feel that I can still [faire beaucoup]. We are still very young, we have eight or ten years ahead of us, I don’t know. Now I have a title so I’m better prepared for the future. If I have another opportunity, I will be more ready.”

“I want to be a legend in MotoGP. I want to be remembered as an incredible rider, like Lorenzo, Pedrosa, Valentino [Rossi]Marquez…” he finds himself dreaming when the official MotoGP website asks him about his future desires. And to add in the columns of Men’s Health, which dedicated its cover to him: “More than winning a championship, I want to be someone in the motorcycle world. I want to leave a mark, to achieve something that will be remembered.”

“I’m very young. I’m 26 years old and I hope this is just the beginning and that I still have many years ahead of me. What I really want is to be remembered from me for something much deeper than a MotoGP title, although it takes a big weight off my shoulders”, explains the Spanish pilot again in an interview given to the Spanish edition of Motorsport.com.

“Pecco is one of the best drivers in history, and not just because of his stats. He beat Stoner, who is considered one of the five best drivers of all time. And I beat him , with the same bike I don’t know where that puts me. I have an average of one podium every three races, counting my years with Mahindra. [en Moto3] and in Moto2. We’ll see what happens in 2025, when I race with another brand.”

Win against top drivers to be even better

To last, Jorge Martín will have to face other great drivers, certainly among the greatest of their generation if not more. Faced with a Marc Márquez back at his highest level, a vengeful Pecco Bagnaia and a Pedro Acosta already promised a bright future, no one knows if the Madrilenian will have the capacity to continue winning while he changes manufacturer . But for the moment he retains the enrichment that was the fight waged against his current adversaries and seems to believe in himself more than ever.

“It was incredible to win against the best, Pecco, because he won 11 races. I also think that Marc gave the best version of himself. Maybe he didn’t have the best bike, he “He was missing little things on his, but he was the best Marc, I can guarantee you he was at the limit. And I beat them both.” he emphasized on the evening of his coronation.

“I’m sorry, Mark and Aeneas [Bastianini]all three of them made me a better driver, they pushed me to do my best. When it wasn’t one of them, it was the other who could have won, and I was always in the battle, that’s what made the difference. It was a very difficult title to win, we achieved the all-time points record which means the competitiveness was very high and to beat them is incredible.”

With Oriol Puigdemont and Vincent Lalanne-Sicaud